Genetech Discrepancy
by Diresquirrel
Summary: Buffy is thrust into a new situation when she finds out that her mother's estranged father recently died. With Joyce dead, Buffy and Dawn have to pick up the pieces. Crossover with the Book verse of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
1. Chapter 1

**The Lawyer Cometh**

* * *

_Mid Season 5, after the Body._

_Jurassic Park, a few months after the first book ends and before InGen has imploded._

_Buffy's real family, so to speak_

_This is the book-verse for the most part, not the movie-verse. By the end of the first book Hammond is dead (compy snacks), Gennaro is not, and InGen is about to declare bankruptcy. Various reports have Ian Malcolm as dead, but he is not. The Costa Rica government is holding the survivors of the park. Tim is the older grandchild, good with both computers and dinosaurs and Lex is younger with an interest in baseball and sports. If you haven't read the book yet, you should. It's a great read. There will be a couple of things taken from the movies, certain characters and versions of characters, but the plot is from the books primarily._

_I would love to be a bit more accurate and give the Raptors feathers, but that just isn't in the cannon. Funny how much can change in terms of science over 20 years._

* * *

_Michael Crichton's estate owns Jurassic Park and Joss Whedon owns Buffy. I don't own either, but this was written as a sort of tribute to Michael Crichton after his death. I'm just posting it now._

_Many thanks to GreyWizard for the assistance.  
_

* * *

The funeral had been two days before. Joyce Summers was dead. Buffy and Dawn were alone, being allowed to morn their mother in peace. It seemed like even Glory was taking a break. The vampires had head the rumors, bouncing from one to another that the Slayer's mother just died. In an inexplicable moment of wisdom, they had decided to scale back their goals and just take a nibble here and there. It was almost like evil was taking a break in Sunnydale. Too bad someone forgot to tell the lawyers.

The knock came at the door. The Summers girls ignored it at first, but the knock came again. Wiping her face clear, Buffy trudged towards the door. On the other side was a middle-aged man with a suit so crisp it must have been bought that day. He held a briefcase and a worried look.

"What?" demanded Buffy. It was perhaps a little too rough, but she was in no mood to be disturbed.

"My name is Donald Gennaro," the man said. He glanced down at a piece of paper. "Is Joyce Summers here?"

"You're a week late. She died," Buffy said coldly, "and I don't want what you're selling. Please leave."

The man had a sudden panicked look on his face. "Uh, please! I'm not selling anything. I'm a lawyer. I needed to speak with her about a situation with her inheritance."

"You're too late. Mom died a week ago from some brain thingy," Buffy was almost ready to slam the door with slayer strength regardless of if he was in the way or not. Xander could repair it later.

"Your mother? She has a daughter?" the lawyer franticly flipped through the papers, as if the fact was complete news. "Well that complicates everything."

"Buffy? Who's that?" Dawn sat up on the couch and rubbed her eyes clear.

"Just some lawyer. Go back to upstairs Dawnie," Buffy said, glancing over her shoulder at her little sister.

"Uh, is she your…?"

"My little sister," Buffy confirmed.

"Uh, Ms. Summers? May I come in?" Buffy glanced at the sun and back at him. The leaves were waving in the breeze, casting fluttering shadows on the man, but she couldn't see any smoke. But this was the Hellmouth, so that didn't mean anything.

She didn't say anything, but stepped out of the way to let him pass if he could. He could. Once inside, he glanced around the small California house. "Is there a place we could talk? This is rather complicated with your mother gone."

She gestured to the kitchen. As the lawyer passed, Buffy mouthed "get Willow" to her sister. Dawn nodded and scampered to the upstairs phone. She sat down across from Gennaro and offered him a glass of water. He was quite grateful and almost chugged it down.

"I've already spoken with the lawyer of Mom's estate," Buffy said. "Dawn and I split everything, but I hold it in trust for her until she turns eighteen."

"Okay, okay. That makes things a little easier," Gennaro said, opening the briefcase. Not looking at her, he rifled through some folders. "I just need a few more papers and that will clear everything up."

"You still haven't told me what this is about," Buffy stated flatly as she glanced at the door. Dawn mouthed that Willow was on her way.

"Okay, first of all, I'm sorry to tell you that your grandfather is dead," Gennaro said. Her blank stare was not what he expected, clearly. There was only a blank stare and a blink, no tears or change of emotion.

"What grandfather? My grandfather died when I was two," said Buffy. "I have some cousins on my father's side who live in upstate New York, but I don't think we have any other family."

"Ah, no. I mean your other grandfather," Gennaro said hesitantly. "John Hammond." Again, the blank stare. "Uh, your mother's father?" Blank Stare. "You, uh, you never knew your mother's father did you?"

"She never talked about him so I always assumed he was dead," Buffy said flatly.

"Uh, he wasn't, until a while ago," the Lawyer said, obviously confused as to the direction he needed to go. "He, uh, was a victim of a, uh, animal attack at one of his company's facilities. He had two heirs, your mother and her little sister, your aunt Sonya Hammond-Murphy. I suppose that's just Hammond now that the divorce is finalized."

"So…"

"Your grandfather and your mother were estranged, I think it had something to do with her choice of school, major and then your father," Gennaro. "From what I can piece together, Hammond didn't approve of your mother's choices.

"Well, he was right about dad," Buffy said. "He ran off to Spain with his secretary. Living the cliché, so to speak. His office gave me a wrong number, so I have no idea where he is now."

"Yes, well, ultimately, your grandfather never wrote your mother out of his will," Gennaro said, pulling out a piece of paper for her to see. "We had a difficult time finding your mother, but we were hoping she could attend the reading of his will. This has all the information about where and when it is."

"I'll see what I can do," Buffy said, glancing it over. Willow burst in, thinking it was an emergency, with a small ball of fire in hand. The rest of the Scooby Gang burst in after her, armed to the teeth. They- looked from Buffy, to the lawyer and back to Buffy. Willow turned as red as her hair.

"'tsurewhatwasgoingon, soIthoughtitwasanemergencyand I called…everyone…over…I'll stop now," the witch said with a panicked look. Everyone glanced at Gennaro, who was looking at the redhead bug-eyed.

"Is your hand _glowing?_" he asked confused. Willow glanced down at her still glowing hand and quickly tucked it behind her.

"Uh, no. It, uh, must be a trick of the light," she said, covering herself badly. Buffy rolled her eyes

"Buffy, who is this gentleman?" Giles, wisely choosing to change the subject, cleaned his glasses in response to the poor recovery.

"Oh, this is my grandfather's lawyer," Buffy said. "He was looking for Mom."

"Oh…did you…?"

"Yes, Giles, I told him," The sadness tinged her tone again.

"Uh, Ms. Summers, these are…?" Gennaro was a little hesitant to reveal InGen secrets to complete outsiders.

"Practically family," Buffy said. "They can hear anything you're about to tell me. Dawnie needs to hear it too."

"Some of what I have to tell you is really only for you and your sister," Gennaro said pleadingly. "If they wish to hear this I'll need them to sign non-disclosure forms."

"Ugh, I hate those things," Buffy said, thinking back to the Initiative. She crossed her arms and slumped.

"I'm just a lawyer," Gennaro said. "There are rules I absolutely have to follow and this is one of them."

"Willow, the reason I called you over, is that I want you to confirm anything he says," Buffy said. "Laptop action Willow, not witch-fu grip Willow."

"Oh," Willow said, going red again. "I-uh-I'll go get it. The Laptop. It's, uh, not here."

"What do you mean that you need to verify my identity? And how is she going to do it?" the lawyer was a bit edgy, having dealt with the Costa Rican government for months without being able to leave. After that it was a matter of jumping between Japanese investors and tracking down the wayward daughter.

"You're not the first person to claim to have something for me so soon after my mother died," Buffy said. "Three people have tried to scam me out of what little my mother left to me. I'm not going to risk another one."

"Oh, well that seems reasonable," Gennaro said, backing down. As much as he wanted to wipe his hands of the subject, he had to remind himself of the complexity of the whole situation, much more than just his side of it.

Willow was back sooner than they thought, having left her laptop in Xander's car. She plugged in and started it up. She started typing away, sitting on the other side of the living room from the other Scoobies who had sat down and waited patiently. Every so often she would ask a question: what the lawyer's name was, what Buffy's grandfather was named. She typed a little longer and asked another question. After a couple of hours she was finally done.

"So, John Hammond," Willow said. "CEO, Founder and primary shareholder of International Genetics Corporation, InGen for short. Started the company in the late 70s and dazzled people with his miniature elephant the size of a house cat. Made a partial theme park in San Diego and several others all over the world. Got a lot of money from Japanese investors for a secret project called, huh, that's odd. It's just call JP. No other mention. Bought a huge bulk of amber from all over the world."

"How does she have this information? Is-Is she hacking the server? Hacking is a crime!" Gennaro glanced from the redhead to Buffy in confusion. Willow looked up from her screen to give him a stern resolve look.

"Mr. Gennaro? If you're the legal council for InGen, why are you here representing John Hammond's estate? That doesn't make any sense," Willow asked. "Especially since your firm owns 5% of the company."

"Actually, I'm being required to do this by a third party," Gennaro said hesitantly.

"What third party?" Buffy asked sternly. She crossed her arms and glared at him. Even for someone of her height it was a bit intimidating.

"The government of Costa Rica," he said, inwardly praying they would not look any deeper. His prayers were not answered as he heard the girl's fingers clack on the keyboard once again.

"Oh, this is interesting. Most of that money from the Japanese investors has gone into a project down there, doesn't say what project, but I'm guessing JP," Willow said. "I'm guessing JP is a park considering the other parks Hammond started around the world. Japanese Park? Wait that doesn't make any sense for Costa Rica."

"So, why were you here to see Mom? It doesn't really make sense with everything that you've told me," Buffy asked. Gennaro took a deep breath and sighed.

"You and your sister jointly own a little portion of the stock in InGen," he sat down while they were all momentarily stunned. "Not officially yet, mind you, but as soon as you and your sister go to the reading of the will, the executor of the estate, Mr. Hammond's personal lawyer, will outline exactly what you both receive. I am not privy to the exact amount. I just know that he said everything was going to his children. Since your mother is deceased, you are now the heirs to about half of his estate."

"Do-do we have any other family that we don't know about?" Dawn asked.

"As far as I know, you have an aunt and two younger cousins: Lex, a girl around eight, and Tim, a boy of eleven or twelve," the lawyer replied. "I don't know their exact ages. You might have others, I don't really know. I was a business associate, not a personal friend of Mr. Hammond."

"What do we need to do for all this?" Dawn asked, sweeping her arms to gesture at all the paperwork.

"Most of this is wrong now, with your mother gone, but the basics are here," Gennaro explained. "This is a huge pile of legal documents that covers the transfer of shares, property and money (if any) to your mother. We need to draw up new ones for the both of you."

"You won't mind if we have another lawyer review the legal proceedings, would you?" Giles inquired.

"If that is what you both wish, it is fine," Gennaro said, looking at the two sisters.

Buffy glanced through pages of legal jargon and nodded to Giles. "I will have my firm update the documents. They should arrive in the morning, then," the InGen lawyer said. "Here is a copy of the legal documents. I will have my office fax the new copies tomorrow."

"Are you staying in town?" Xander asked as the man was about to leave.

"Yes, I'm staying at the Sunnydale Motor Inn," Donald Gennaro replied. He noticed the crowd cringe at the sound of that name. He guessed it had a reputation. It was clean, though.

"Don't let anyone in after dark. In fact, don't even open the door," Buffy said. When he looked at her confused, she shrugged. "We've got a gang problem at night."


	2. Chapter 2

**Lawyers, Magic Shops and Slayers**

* * *

The next day, Gennaro was up with the sun. He had phoned the office in LA the previous night and they said the papers would be done by 9am. That was faster than he had expected, but he waited for the fax while he had breakfast. A real American breakfast: that was something he had missed in Costa Rica. At nine, he was sitting by the fax in the local print shop. After calling to tell them, the Summers sister told him to meet them at a place called "the Magic Box" not far from there. The fax came and he read through them to make sure everything was correct. There had been an incident a year ago with a rival firm that had swapped legal paperwork on them, causing Gennaro's firm to lose the case. Now, all lawyers were required to review all paperwork just to make sure Wolfram & Hart never tried the same stunt again. Everything was in order.

He walked over to the Magic Box, which seemed to be a sort of new age shop with crystals and incense and all that claptrap. From what he gathered, it was owned by a couple of the others he had met: the older man and some woman he didn't know yet.

He opened the door and it appeared pretty much like he expected. Baubles and herbs and fake skulls with candles on top. It seemed to be a front for all the claptrap of those "new age" religions that didn't make any sense to him. He took a deep breath and opened the door. He wanted to get this over with and go see his kids. Damn the rest of them in Costa Rica; he wasn't going back there ever again.

As he entered the shop he noticed the pretty woman at the front desk. He didn't recognize her from anywhere, but she had an overly forced smile that made him back up a step.

"Hi, welcome to the Magic Box," she said in an eager voice full of forced cheer. "You should buy something. Many somethings. Perhaps some expensive somethings? I can suggest many of our most expensive items!"

"Uh, I'm looking for Ms. Summers?" the lawyer asked hesitantly. The shopkeeper's face instantly fell.

Dejected, she pointed to the room at the back of the shop. "Oh, they're all in the training room."

Gennaro grabbed his satchel to his chest and quickly ran through the shop. Slipping behind the stairs, he screamed as a sword stabbed into the wood next to his head.

"Oops," said Buffy, pulling the sword out of the wood. Gennaro glanced around and noticed Rupert Giles all trussed up in padded armor while Buffy was wearing only her regular clothes. She tossed the sword backwards so it fell into a rack perfectly. She then ran a hand through her hair. "So, got the papers?"

"Eh, er, yes. They faxed them over this morning," the lawyer said, stumbling over his words.

"Good, shall we peruse them at the table," Mr. Giles said, pointing to a table filled with books. Pushing them to one side, Buffy gestured for the lawyer to take a seat. Grabbing a fresh cup of coffee, Buffy sat down beside him. She tossed him the birth certificates and a copy of her mother's will notarized and such.

"Here's my and Dawn's stuff. It should make things clear enough," Buffy said. Gennaro glanced them over for a second and compared it to the information he had. Everything checked out.

"Your sister will have to be here to sign for the NDA and other paperwork," he said.

"I know, but we're not signing anything until we get a look at what it is we're signing," the blonde woman said sternly. Soon the other lawyer arrived and looked things over. It seemed quite clear cut, but the other lawyer cautioned them that he was neither an inheritance expert nor a student of business law.

After the third hour, Gennaro was starting to sweat. He wanted this over and done with. None too soon, Dawn Summers came through the door. Gennaro almost shoved the papers at her as soon as she sat down.

"Here are the papers, now if you don't mind, I would like to get this done so I can process the information today," he said, hoping he didn't sound too eager.

"It looks good Dawnie," Buffy told her sister. The Summers sisters signed the paperwork and it was finished. Quite quickly, Gennaro snatched them up, packed up his belongings and headed to the door.

"We still have questions Buster!"

Gennaro stopped just a foot away from the door and cursed himself. Reluctantly, he turned around and walked back to the table.

"Like, why is this all so secret, but there really aren't any secrets here," Willow asked.

"To be honest, there is a much bigger problem here," Gennaro said. "InGen is in the midst of a crisis and with Hammond dead, there isn't really a thing we can do about it. I represent the Japanese Investors who stand to lose a lot in the deal. The only way to save the company is if the investors and the board are convinced that there is a positive direction for the company. When we announced Hammond was dead, the stock plummeted. We are looking for some way of repairing the damage. Part of that is finalizing the edicts of your grandfather's will."

"You should have mentioned this prior to forcing these girls into signing those papers," Giles said with a dangerous tinge to his voice.

"What do you mean Giles?" Buffy was confused.

"What I mean is that you and your sister both could be put into financial jeopardy for being John Hammond's heirs," Giles answered, his eyes never leaving the lawyer. "Is that not right, Mr. Gennaro?"

"No, although you might lose the stock, you yourselves will not be culpable for any losses the company endures," Gennaro explained. "InGen is a publicly traded corporation. Even if it fails, you two will not be at fault for anything that comes out of it."

"How can you be sure of that?" Buffy didn't want to be in any more problems than she already had, Glory, Key and all that.

"Because Hammond died before you were involved in the company. You should get the paperwork and tickets the will reading within the week," he called back over his shoulder as he charged out the door. The screams coming from the next room at the motel didn't sound like screams of pleasure. There was no way he was spending another night in Sunnydale.


	3. First Incantation

**First Incantation, Limited Complexity**

The first Incantation is of relative simplicity. There is little that cannot be explained or done by normal physical or chemical means. The line between Science and Magic is understandably blurred and neither one is remarkable.


	4. Chapter 4

**Arriving in Costa Rica**

* * *

The Summers sisters received a package the next week with tickets to Costa Rica for Buffy, Dawn, and three others. InGen had provided them in an effort to make everything run smoothly. Dawn and Buffy chose Willow, Tara and Giles. Xander had a big project for the construction company and Anya was not about to let profit leave her grasp. There were also the added problems of Xander didn't have a passport and Anya didn't technically exist in a formal paper trail sense.

The plane ride was subdued with no one really wanting to talk about what was happening. The idea of having a grandfather hadn't occurred to the Summers girls. To find out only after he was dead made it a loss they didn't understand. The private InGen jet picked them up and flew them nonstop to Costa Rica, landing along a private strip on the western coast of the Central American nation. The strip was commonly used by the rich who landed along the strip to get to their tropical mansions.

From there, they rode in black jeep-like vehicles down a long winding mountain path to the city. At times the dust was so thick they nearly choked on the air itself. There were a few places along the path that Buffy got a whiff of something on the air that reminded her of some demon scents, but they drove by them fast enough that she didn't have time to identify them, although she shot her Watcher a knowing look. He gave her an understanding nod in return. Giles made a mental mark on his mental map, reminding himself to advise the Council of the demon activity. Willow and Tara caught the exchange, but Dawnie was too busy watching the animals out the window. It was the first time she had ever been in a tropical rainforest (first time for all of them really), but she was enthralled by the colors and sounds from the tall trees. Howler and spider monkeys meandered and called through the branches. Brilliantly colored birds flew from branch to branch and sang off in the distance, the calls just barely heard above the engines and the hoots of the howler monkeys. Dawn Summers, considered young by either of her ages, felt like she was going through one giant zoo all for her benefit. It was a welcome distraction to her mother's recent death.

"Look! It's a parrot!" Dawn called out, to Tara and Willow. This was the thirty-seventh parrot (not of the same species, but still) that Dawn had spotted. Willow had been keeping track.

"Yep," Willow said, keeping a smile on her face. Even Willow was starting to understand how Buffy felt about being in close quarters with the younger girl. But Dawn was in better spirits than she had been since Joyce revealed her tumor.

After a couple of hours, they drove into the city. San Jose is not like the American city of the same name, although it does have its own charm. But there was no sightseeing on this tour. The vehicles drove directly up to a hotel and stopped in front.

"Um, why are we here?"

The driver said something in Spanish that Buffy didn't understand and motioned towards the building. Buffy looked to Giles. The Watcher straightened his glasses.

"He said that we have to exit here," Giles said. "Apparently, whatever process you have to go through will begin here."

The Americans scrambled out of the car, pulling their luggage. Buffy brought the most and carried the most. She had been hoping for some nice tropical sun-fun, but something she couldn't place cast a rather ominous shadow on that prospect.

Giles leaned forward and paid the driver in a few American dollars and tipped well. The driver graciously accepted and helped the British man take his baggage out of the jeep. As soon as the jeep was empty, the driver quickly sped away. Only then did it occur to Giles that the man was probably already paid. Giles looked through his travel papers and pulled out his wallet and his US Green-card. He anticipated some trouble with customs, but who knew what exactly lay ahead.

The girls were already inside the government building by the time he got up the steps. Just inside was a glass room with a security office where officers inspected passports and other travel papers. The girls were having an easy time of it until Buffy put her bag through, having forgotten about her small collection of weapons. Giles watched as the man watching the x-ray paused slightly. His eyes widened in surprise.

Guards brought Buffy to another room. Giles sighed. He had known something like this was going to happen.

"Rupert Giles, what are you doing in Costa Rica?" Giles spun around at the familiar voice only to find an old friend looking back at him.

"Alan Grant, how are you?" Giles asked, giving the paleontologist a good handshake and a warm smile.

"A fundraiser wanted me to look at a project of his, but it didn't work out," Alan Grant said, the smile slipping from his face for a brief second. "Are you still with the museum?"

"No," Giles said with a shake of his head. "I've been living in the Colonies for about five years now, California actually, working as a librarian and later as a shopkeeper. It keeps life interesting."

"What are you doing in Costa Rica?" asked Grant. "Odd place for a librarian, a shopkeeper or a former museum director."

"I'm here with a few former students. They recently had a death in the family and are here to deal with the will. Poor girls. They lost their mother just before they found out their grandfather was dead as well. They never knew him."

"Yes, I had to deal with some children recently. They lost their grandfather as well," Alan Grant replied. Giles knew the scientist well enough to know he was holding something back. When Giles shot him a look, the paleontologists cringed slightly. "Sorry, Rupert. I can't talk about it."

"Understandable. Still globetrotting around looking for those raptors you like so much?"

"Found them easier than I thought, actually."


	5. Chapter 5

**Jabbing Murphy with a Stick**

* * *

Buffy was in a holding room while the guards searched through her bag. She could see it through the glass window. She had packed thirty-seven stakes, four swords, two axes, twelve throwing knives of different materials, one mace, two battle hammers, three switchblades and a large gallon jug of holy water which was labeled as such. That did not include what she had on her. The weapons had almost no ornamentation on them at all save for where Buffy had scribbled "property of Buffy, not Dawn" on the handles of every single one. Not that Dawn was really all that interested in medieval weaponry. But it really wasn't her fault. I mean, she didn't read Spanish. How was she to know they were walking into a government building? She'd thought it was the hotel.

"Oh, phooey," Buffy muttered. "Where's Giles? I could use some help with this."

She looked up as she saw an officer open the door to her room. She sat up, trying to look bright eyed and bushytailed, but was only able to manage spastic. It wasn't the best impression to give.

"Would you like to explain why you brought all these weapons into the building," he asked, sitting down opposite her. His English was very good with only a slight accent.

"No."

"No? What kind of answer is that?"

"You asked me if I would like to. I don't like to. So I answered truthfully."

"This isn't helping your case! Why would you bring weapons to a government building?"

"Um…because it's dangerous outside and I forgot I put them in the bag?"

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Uh, yes?"

* * *

"So, Alan, what brings you here to Costa Rica?" Giles said as they started into the US Embassy. Alan Grant's face darkened for a second.

"Ellie and I are here dealing with the issues from the fundraiser's death," Alan said. Giles watched him for a moment before responding.

"Your fundraiser wouldn't happen to be John Hammond, would it?" Had it been in other circumstances, Giles would have prized the look of surprise on Grant's face.

"Don't tell me, those girls, their grandfather was John Hammond, wasn't he?" Grant asked, his grip on Giles' arm tightening.

"Yes, as unbelievable as that might be. They had never met the man; a falling out between Joyce, their mother, and Hammond, her father, prevented that," Giles said. Alan Grant pulled the British man close and whispered into his ear.

"If those girls mean anything to you, get them out of the country as soon a possible," Grant hissed. "Go to the States, go to England, go anywhere but Costa Rica."

"I suspect it's too late for that," replied Giles. Alan Grant's shoulders slumped in resignation and the paleontologist nodded in agreement. "What exactly happened with John Hammond?"

"Not here, buy me a cold one in a loud bar and we'll cover it then," Alan Grant said. "The reading of the will isn't for a while."

"Very well, I shall see you tonight."

"Don't be late."

"I shant."

* * *

"So, you're telling me that you collect these weapons and you are very skilled in their use, but that you forgot that you had then in your bags?"

"Yes, that's exactly it," Buffy said with a smile. The security guy was finally getting it.

"Are you insane?" he asked honestly. Buffy took offense at the implication of her less than bountiful sanity.

"Hey! I'm perfectly sane! If I had remembered they were in there I would have told you! Now let me go!" Buffy stood up to her full height in an attempt at looking intimidating. The security guard stood up so that Buffy was looking at his chin. "So you're tall, big deal. I didn't attack anyone, and I'm not going to. If you don't like it, just give them back to me when I leave."

"Okay, you can go." He said, letting her pass. Buffy was a little confused that it had been that easy. As she passed through the door, she caught Willow's wink and smile.

"Great guys, let's go get this stuff done with," she proclaimed. With renewed determination, the four girls walked up to where the state department official was waiting for them.

"Hello Miss Summers, I am James Hartford, I work at the US Embassy," the baby-faced man said, mistakenly holding out a hand to Tara.

"Ah-um-s-she's Buffy," Tara said, pointing to the shorter blond. The man looked very embarrassed and held his hand out to Buffy.

"Uh, sorry about that," Hartford said. He was kind of cute, even if he did look Dawnie's age. Buffy shook his hand. "I uh, will be your contact with the American Embassy while you're here."

"Buffy Summers, this is my sister Dawn and our friend Willow Rosenberg and Tara McClay," Buffy said pointing to each in turn. "Giles is supposed to be here, but I don't know where he is right now."

"Ah, Rupert Giles? Actually, although he does have a greencard, he is a British National, so he'll be dealing with things from that angle," Hartford said. "I've been briefed on your situation. Sorry about your Grandfather."

"We never knew he existed until he was dead," Dawn said. "Mom never talked about him."

"Well, sorry for your loss anyway," Hartford said. He was clearly new at his job. "Anyway, we've been talking to the other parties involved with Mr. Hammond's death and the will and it seems the Costa Rican government is supplying your accommodations."

"What's the deal with that?" Willow asked. She knew something was up.

"What do you mean?" Hartford replied, clearly nervous.

"Why is all this happening in Costa Rica? Wasn't Hammond British?"

"Yes, which is why this is so troubling as a three-way diplomatic incident," Hartford said. "Which actually makes things easier, considering Mr. Giles' current involvement."

"Why is a man dying a diplomatic incident?" Willow pressed. Suddenly Hartford's face blossomed with realization.

"Oh, my god! You don't know!"

"Uh, know what?" Buffy asked, suddenly suspicious that she was going to regret the answer. Hartford stammered a while without actually responding.

"Oh, this is bad." Hartford said. Dawn shrugged and looked at the other girls.

"We really should have expected this," the younger girl said with a sad smile.

"Uh, let me take you to your rooms and I'll explain everything at dinner," Hartford said, pulling out his mobile phone. "You'll be back here in the morning and I'll meet with you every day."

"Why would we want to be here? The reading of the will isn't for another two days," Buffy asked.

"I'll explain tonight. I'll be inviting a few others who can help in that regard," Hartford said, stammering.

Buffy sighed. "I've got a bad feeling about this."


	6. Chapter 6

**Lawyers, Blondes and Money**

* * *

In Palo Alto, California, Donald Gennaro was in the same meeting he had been in for the last eleven hours and it didn't look like it was going to let up. The topic was InGen, as the last ten meetings had been. The lawyer expected the next ten would be the same topic.

Gennaro's law firm, Cowan, Swain and Ross, owned 5% of the InGen stock. It was something they had been displeased about for almost a year. InGen's current stock was worth almost nothing with the death of John Hammond and now that Jurassic Park had been destroyed the firm had little hope at recuperating their investment. Donald Gennaro's job was to find out if and how that would be possible.

"As far as I know, the park is destroyed. The last thing I saw coming off that island were bombers and napalm," Gennaro said for probably the fiftieth time. "Unless there is another laboratory I don't see how the data can be used. They should have started publishing six months ago. As it is, the park was scheduled to open in September."

"So what you are saying is the stocks we bought might as well be used for wiping our asses," asked Cowan, one of the senior partners in the firm.

"I wouldn't put it quite that way sir, but yes," Gennaro replied. "Unless InGen pulls itself around within the next two months, you will want to get rid of them as soon as possible."

"Lindsey, what do the Japanese investors have to say about the situation," Cowan asked the newest lawyer on the team. Lindsey MacDonald was considered the biggest coup the firm had ever made, stealing away one of the rising lawyers of Wolfram & Hart. The fact that MacDonald was voluntarily leaving Wolfram & Hart was dutifully ignored.

"From what I have been able to see, they are no more pleased with the situation than we are," the brown haired lawyer said. Absently, he rubbed his wrist. "John Hammond made some really big promises and now that he's dead, a foot-tall elephant is not going to pacify them. They are considering just cutting their losses and turning their backs on the whole company."

"Which would make our bit worth even less," stated the senior partner flatly. He turned back to Gennaro. "Donald, you've spent the better part of a decade working with these people. What is your opinion as to the rest of the corporation?"

Gennaro took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Hammond's nephew is just as crazy as Hammond. He's only thinking of money and not public opinion or the opinions of the shareholders. He could actually be worse for us in the long run since we will be associated with them." He opened a manila folder and revealed a photo of a blond woman. Lindsey MacDonald saw the photo and almost spit out his coffee. Gennaro noted the reaction and mentally filed it away for later. "Elizabeth Summers. She goes by Buffy. She is John Hammond's granddaughter by his oldest daughter Joyce. Blond, pretty, aware, sharp: the media would love her. She stands to inherit about a quarter of the Hammond Fortune, as she splits her mother's share with her sister Dawn. By my estimates, this means she will own about an eighth of the stock and control about a quarter of the entire stock."

"You've met her, what is she like?"

"She's dedicated and wary," Gennaro said. "She is smart enough to have people check anything she signs and she is tough. She's very athletic. I saw her fencing with her mentor, a Rupert Giles, and she was using real steel, not that kind of thing we did in college. Rumors have her as part of a group of friends who helped out a lot of people in high school. She was given the title of 'School Protector' for her work. She had moderately good grades in college, having completed three semesters. She pulled out to help care for her mother this last semester."

"You are talking about making a corporate dynasty," Lindsey said, not the least bit amused. He knew something and Gennaro was going to find out what. The Texan leaned back as if he was just going to watch everything implode.

"No, he's talking about making the appearance of a corporate dynasty until we can recuperate our losses," Cowan said. "Use the public image to drive up the stock prices so we can pull out before it all goes to hell. I like it."

"That could easily backfire," Lindsey said. The senior partner shook his head.

"Let's do it," said one of the other lawyers. She was a middle aged woman with a keen mind for business. "Start talking to the other shareholders. Start reinforcing how capable she is. As soon as she has her shares, make her into the new hope for InGen."

"It has worked before," commented another lawyer on the team.

"I really question if it will this time," Lindsey cautioned. "She doesn't have anything more than a high school diploma. She isn't a geneticist or an economist, or an MBA."

"Fortunately, the decision is not up to you," Cowan said. "I will talk with the others. We don't need to make this a lasting thing, we just need to change things just enough to pull out relatively well off."

* * *

After the meeting was over Gennaro walked right over to Lindsey MacDonald. The younger man smirked just a little and rubbed his wrist.

"I want to know why you recognized the photo of the Summers girl," Gennaro said with no pretense of civility.

"She is the ex-girlfriend of an acquaintance of mine," Lindsey said. There was something about how he said the word acquaintance that made the hairs rise on the back of Gennaro's neck. "They haven't spoken in some time."

"You don't agree with the plan," Gennaro stated.

"I don't agree with the ethics of the plan," Lindsey said. "I don't agree that it will work, either. I think the firm is making a big mistake."

"The ethics?"

"You're taking a girl who just lost her mother, suddenly found herself the guardian of her little sister and forcing her to be the heir to more money than she imagined and has her own responsibilities. Now you are turning her into a figurehead," Lindsey said. "I know more than a few people who would have a problem with that. Especially considering the girl is Buffy Summers. Don't be surprised if people start coming out of the woodwork when her name gets in the papers."

"You know something more about her," Gennaro said. "There's something you aren't telling."

"I know that if you let her burn for your mistakes, some doors are going to be knocked on at the worst time of the night by people that make your blood curdle," Lindsey said. "I'm going to laugh when this blows up in your face."

Gennaro looked at the younger lawyer for a long moment without speaking. He then turned and walked away. "May I remind you, we have a plane to catch."

"I thought _you_ had a plane to catch," Lindsey said pointedly.

"You're coming with me," Gennaro said with finality.


	7. Chapter 7

**Histories and connections**

* * *

The rooms were great. They were from the finest hotel in San Jose and had every possible amenity including a free mini-bar. Willow had asked Jimmy (as the girls had come to refer to James Hartford) what the cost was, and he had explained that the Government of Costa Rica was paying for everything. Yes, everything. Buffy resolved to go shopping as soon as possible.

Giles had stopped by and made sure they were okay, and retired to his suite next door. He told them that he had run into an old friend and was going to dinner with him. Buffy told him to go for it.

Hours had passed and there came a knock at their door. Tara looked through the peephole and saw Jimmy with a woman she didn't recognize. She was pretty cute. "Uh, it's James Hartford. I was going to take you out to dinner."

"Wait, we're almost ready." Dawn called out. Soon everyone was ready to go and out the door. Hartford motioned to the woman beside him.

"Buffy, Dawn, Tara, Willow, this is Dr. Ellie Sattler," Jimmy said, introducing the tall blond woman.

"You're a doctor?" Tara asked.

"Of paleobotany," Ellie answered. Willow was about to comment on the surreal nature of a paleobotanist explaining a diplomatic incident, but Ellie cut her off. "Yeah, that doesn't make much sense. Why don't you come down? There's a nice restaurant a short walk down the street. I'll explain what's going on."

* * *

"So Alan, what exactly is going on?" Giles asked as the waitress walked away, having just taken their orders.

"You'll want at least one of those before we start," Grant said, pointing to the glass of beer waiting in front of his British friend.

"I am not going to be happy with this, am I?"

"No, I don't think you will," Alan said before taking a long pull off his beer.

"I wish they hadn't chilled this," Giles said. "Seems foolish in this climate."

Giles emptied the glass and looked over at his friend who had long since finished his first beer and was awaiting his second.

"So what happened with John Hammond?"

* * *

Ellie Sattler looked at the four girls. All American Buffy, the leader of the group, seemed to be nothing more than a California cheerleader that never grew up. After they talked a little, Ellie noticed a few more depths in the girl. There was something more to the situation than any of them noticed.

"So, I'm guessing you want to know about John Hammond," Ellie asked at a lull in the conversation. They had just ordered and it would be a while before the food arrived.

"Yeah, this whole 'whoops, you've got a grandfather you've never heard of, and Costa Rica's paying for everything' thing is a little too suspicious," Willow said. She shrugged to the Summers girls. "Sorry, but it's true."

"Well, you're right to be suspicious," Sattler said. "Basically, I don't think they're willing to let you leave. They're looking for someone to blame. The Government, that is. And since they now have two out of three heirs to the Hammond fortune and the two children of the third, they think they've found their scapegoats."

"Well, that doesn't make me very happy," Buffy said sullenly.

"Wait, it gets worse," Sattler said with a sarcastic snarl. The girls jumped at the harsh tone, but the scientist shook her head apologetically. "Sorry, that wasn't directed at you."

"What happened to make Costa Rica so vengeful?"

* * *

"Actually, that's a long story in and of itself," Grant said, answering Giles' question. "It all started when the EPA was concerned about the funding the Hammond Foundation gave us."

"That's an odd thing to ask a paleontologist about," Giles commented.

"Yes, that's where it started and it only got worse from there," Grant said, leaning back in the booth. "He was looking into all this genetic equipment InGen was sending down here. He thought it was strange that a corporation was sending a whole bunch of very expensive equipment to a country with no regulations very suspicious. And he was right. I've met with Morris a couple of times since then and he's looking into doing something from the US side of things."

"That is rather suspicious and all, considering the Biosyn rabies incident in Chile," Giles commented. Grant raised a glass to him.

"Exactly, I hadn't known about that then, but this fits right in," the paleontologist said. "So, here's where I come in. Ends up the Hammond Foundation only funds digs in cold climates. Morris thought that was suspicious too."

"What happened from there?"

"Just after Morris left, Hammond called, offering $20,000 a day for me and Ellie to visit this park of his for a weekend," Grant explained. "He was sure he could bribe us into doing what he wanted.

* * *

"And it worked too," Sattler said, explaining the situation. "That kind of money would fund the dig for the next two summers."

"I don't get it," Buffy said. "What does this have to do with us?"

"Yeah, fossils are cool, but it doesn't really seem that important to us," Dawn put in. "Other than he was our grandfather I mean."

"It's a round about way, but it's still important," Dr. Sattler explained. "You see, he wanted us to see this park of his. He thought it was going to be impressive, and it was. You see, all the amber, the dinosaur fossils and whatnot, this was all to get DNA. He was cloning-"

* * *

"-Dinosaurs. He was cloning dinosaurs," Giles said, repeating Grants words. "Is he _insane_? There are monsters enough on this planet without bringing back dead ones!"

"Ah, but he thought he had everything under control," Grant said. "Boy was he wrong. The DNA was spotty, so he used rDNA from modern species to fill in the blanks. Some dinosaurs changed genders and started breeding. Out of 15 species, 5 were breeding on the island. They didn't even notice until it was too late."

"For a small island, that is not a good situation," Giles said, considering the implications. "How did they miss it?"

"They were only looking for the number of individuals they had put out originally, instead of checking for the total number," Grant said. "They only wanted to know if they were losing dinosaurs, so they only looked for the amount they put out originally. When they reached that point, they stopped looking."

"That is rather…foolhardy," Giles commented. "Why didn't they notice the increase of food consumption? Surely there were ways to see?"

"They had no idea about anything," Grant said. "Their lawyer, Gennaro-"

"We've met," Giles said with disgust.

"Ah, yes. The only one of us to go home," Grant said. "Well, before we knew about what was going on, Gennaro would call me up at any hour of the day asking about what dinosaurs would feed on, they had no clue. And it ended up that the carnivores, the compys and the raptors-"

"Excuse me, what? Forgive me, I'm a museum curator, not a paleontologist," Giles reminded his friend.

"Sorry, procompsognathus, a little chicken sized scavenger and hunter with sedative saliva, and velociraptor, a horse sized, pack hunting predator with huge claws, these two species were feeding off the native rat population that infested the island," Grant explained. "They also were able to wander all over the island through bunkers left from previous occupants. InGen didn't even know the bunkers and tunnels were there."

* * *

"So what happened next?" Dawn asked, having been pulled into the story.

"It's pretty simple," Ellie Sattler explained. "The dinosaurs got out."

"I'm guessing that was a bad thing," Buffy said. Ellie paused as she thought back to that heart pounding night.

"The power went out," she said. "We didn't know why at the time, but we had other things on our mind."

She paused, smirking slightly at the eager looks of her audience.

"The T-Rex ate our tour guide and chased us all over the island," the paleobotanist explained. "Then the raptors hunted some of us. All because the power outage on the island caused by some disgruntled employee."

"Wait, he caused the power outage? Who was it?" Willow asked.

"The computer expert, Denis Nedry," the scientist replied. "We don't know why he did it, only that he did. But that short window destroyed everything."

"The dinosaurs got out and ate people, I'm guessing," Buffy said. "I'm guessing Grandpa Hammond also died via dinobite, leaving no one in charge since you guys aren't InGen employees and that's why Costa Rica's looking for someone to blame."

"Exactly, and that is why you should have never come," Sattler said. "I don't know why Gennaro lied when he filled out the paperwork, we thought he had changed. I suppose he was willing to do anything to get back to his family."

"What annoys me the most is that he would have done the same to Mom," Buffy grumbled.

"But what happens now?" Tara asked. "Buffy and Dawnie don't have anything to do with this. They can't be held responsible for what some guy they never met did."

"I wish that is true," Ellie said. "For now, we just don't know what is going to happen. We've been here for almost eight months." Ellie briefly thought back to the physician fiancé she had left back in Denver. He had left her after hearing the wild stories and the fact that she never returned from Costa Rica. He had actually accused her of eloping with Alan. That part amused her. "And now, I have a question. Why aren't you surprised about the dinosaurs? Most people didn't believe us when we told them."

For their part, the California girls, plus Tara, looked at each other and simply shrugged.

"We've seen worse," Willow said simply.

* * *

"So, alarmed by the prospect of dinosaurs running free, but not particularly surprised, why is that Rupert?" Grant asked, nodding thanks to the waitress who delivered a second round to the table.

"'There are more things on Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy,'" quoted Giles. "I have witnessed plenty that makes the unbelievable rather easy to accept." At Alan's inquisitive look, Giles shook his head. "Sorry, it's a long story and mostly not mine to tell."

"Fair enough," Alan Grant said. "Well, there's evidence that these dinosaurs have, at least some of them, escaped the island either before or after Costa Rica firebombed the island. Dinosaurs matching the description of compys have been attacking children across the country and one British family had a close encounter when their little girl was attacked when she went looking for three toed sloths."

"Good God! Is she alright?"

"Yes, she's in good health now," the paleontologist said with a grim look, "but there are others that have migrated across the country eating everything rich in lysine: soy, leafy greens, chickens. From what I've heard they're duck bills, but who knows about others. I already suspect that some raptors have escaped."

"So what now?"

"What now? Now we wait until Costa Rica finds someone to blame for the impending ecological disaster."

"Who are they going to choose?" Giles asked, ripping apart a diner roll. Grant gave him an apologetic look.

"Unfortunately, those two girls are the heirs apparent of InGen," Alan said grimly. "In the US they wouldn't have been culpable, but here in Costa Rica…I don't know."

* * *

"So what do we do?" Dawn asked. "It wasn't our fault that our grandfather was crazy and got people killed."

"Family is much more important in some other countries," Willow said with a sad shrug. "They might feel that you are making up for what John Hammond did, even if you had nothing to do with it. What one family member does affects all family members. You remember, Buffy, it was in Professor Acheson's class last spring."

"Sorry, I was pretty focused on Adam last spring. I passed the class, but I think it was a pity grade," Buffy said sullenly.

"Buffy, they don't give pity grades in college," Dr. Ellie Sattler said firmly. "If you passed the class, you passed it on your own merits."

"Dr. Sattler, h-how old are you?" Tara asked hesitantly.

"24, why?"

"You're only twenty-four and you've got a doctorate!" Willow practically screamed. "You're only 4 years older than us! Well, nine older than Dawn."

"I was a hard worker in school," Ellie said with a little too much humility. "I also had great professors."

"I bet you're like Willow," Dawn said. Willow started shaking her head, but Buffy agreed.

"Yeah, Wills, you got recruited by that computer company in junior year," Buffy said. Ellie was clearly impressed.

"Really? That's quite and accomplishment," the paleobotanist said honestly. "What are you doing now?"

"Uh, getting a degree at UC Sunnydale," Willow said, just a little embarrassed.

"Don't be shy," Ellie said warmly. "It's your grad school that matters these days. If they had their eyes on you then, I bet they still have their eyes on you."

"Boy, I hope not," Willow said under her breath so low only Buffy could hear it.

"Tara, what are you studying?" Sattler asked.

"I-I haven't decided yet," Tara said with a blush.

"And you Buffy?"

"I was thinking psychology, but the professor ended up being a killer," Buffy said glibly. Willow practically choked on her food at the implication. Buffy continued as Tara patted her girlfriend on the back. "I don't know. I dropped out for this semester because Mom died and I needed to take care of Dawnie. I don't know where I'm going from there."

"Hopefully you don't get pulled down with the sinking ship of InGen," Ellie said in a grim tone. "You might get away scot free, but Costa Rica might want to keep us here for a while. There have been reports of dinosaurs in the mountains, but I don't know if we can do anything about that."

"What happened to the dinosaurs on the island?"

"The whole island was firebombed. We don't know if any got out, though it's possible the dactyls did," Sattler said. "We know that others escaped earlier, but we don't know how, other than possibly by hitching a ride on the boat. The hadrosaurs don't seem smart enough to have thought of that. They're also pretty big to have hidden so well."

"So what do we do?" Buffy asked, now genuinely worried about the implications for them. At least they were away from Glory. Absently, she considered what a fight between a hell goddess and a T-Rex would be like. Glory would probably win.


	8. Chapter 8

**Poor, Poor, Pitiful Spike**

* * *

In Sunnydale, a certain bleach blond vampire stormed into the Magic Box.

"'Ey! Where's Slayer and the niblet?" Spike demanded, tossing back an AB Neg and Scotch before slumping into a chair.

"Spike, Spike, Spike. Why are you here?" Xander asked. "Shouldn't you be out getting pounded by a hell goddess or thinking you're a big bad?"

"Xander, it is never a good idea to taunt a master vampire, even if he has been neutered," Anya said as she cataloged her new inventory of mystical junk.

"Oi! Bloody lay off the neutered talk!" Spike snarled angrily. "I'm just as much a big bad as I ever was!"

Xander just looked at the vampire like he was a poor pitiful cat that was just declawed. Spike snarled back.

"So where are they?" Spike asked again. "I just went over and there's no one at her house."

"Buffy and Dawn went to Costa Rica to become rich," Anya said in a clearly jealous tone.

"Rich? The Slayer? And what the bloody hell does Costa Rica have to do with rich?" Spike asked, just a little bit drunk. "Dru took me there the first time we were in town. Granted the food's good, but the waiters are real asses."

"Costa Rica the country, not Costa Rica the Sunnydale bar," Xander said, rolling his eyes. "And why are you looking for them?"

"Glory's skipped town. No more crazies popping up around town and her minions all took off too," Spike said with a belch. "There's no one in her suite either. Saw the maids cleaning the place out. The Nibblet's in trouble. I figured I'd tell the Slayer."

Xander rushed to the phone. Anya held it out to him and the number Buffy said she could be reached at when she called earlier. He let it ring, but eventually it was bounced back to the front desk. A woman spoke in Spanish.

"uh, Ola," Xander said, stammering and using about 10% of his Spanish language repertoire.

"Ah yes, this is the San Juan Regency Hotel. To whom are you trying to reach," said the accented voice on the other end.

"Uh, Buffy Summers," he replied.

"Ah, Miss Summers is currently at dinner, may I take a message?"

"Yeah, that would be great. I just wanted to tell her that her friend Glory left town unexpectedly," Xander said. "She'll want to know."

"And who may I say is calling?"

"Xander Harris."

"How do you spell 'Xander'?"

"Uh, Ex-eh-en-dee-ee-arrh."

"Thank you, we will make sure she gets the message." The other end abruptly hung up. Xander handed the phone back to Anya.

"Now I need to figure out how to get to Costa Rica," Xander said ponderously. Spike lurched to his feet drunkenly.

"I can take care of that!" the vampire declared with a fit of determination. Xander's shoulders sank.

"Why do I know I'm going to regret this?"

* * *

"There's no toilet paper in the men's room," said the elderly man with a Midwestern accent.

"I am sorry sir, I shall send someone to fix that problem right away," said the nice man at the front desk of the hotel told him.

"WHAT?" the man said, cupping his ear. The front desk attendant paused for a moment.

"I will send someone to take care of that for you," he said a little louder.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, I'M ALMOST DEAF," bellowed the man. The front desk attendant winced at the volume.

"I WILL SEND SOMEONE TO SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM SOON!" He said loud enough for everyone in the lobby to hear. He blushed as heads turned towards him. As he leaned down to dial the phone, he missed the girls walking to the elevator and up to their suite.


	9. Chapter 9

**Trouble Waiting to Happen**

* * *

"So where do we go from here?" asked Giles.

"I'd like you to meet some of the other people involved so you can see the whole situation," the paleontologist said. "Ellie Sattler, my grad student was explaining things to your girls, but she's supposed to be here later. First of all I'd like you to meet the father of the girl who got attacked. Rupert, meet Paul."

"Actually, Alan, Ripper and I are very well acquainted," said the man walking over to their table.

The Watcher looked up to see an all too familiar face. Giles gritted his teeth and hissed. "_Ethan_."

"Indeed," The chaos mage smiled and scratched his chin. "But my wife knows me as Paul. It's my middle name." He sat down next to the paleontologist. "But it's so good to see you, Ripper. Did Buffy finally let go of your apron strings?"

Giles managed to restrain himself, but he still felt the urge to inflict pain rising.

"So how do you know each other?" Grant asked. "And I take it you didn't leave on good terms."

"Oh, Ethan and I go way back to a period of misspent youth," Giles answered. "We hardly see each other any more."

"But there is the occasional visit to catch up," Ethan Rayne said, still grinning. "Like Halloween a few years back."

"_You_ have a _daughter_?" Giles asked, practically snarling at the chaos mage.

"Just one seven year old," Ethan replied with a superior smirk. "She's actually quite precocious."

"How did you get out of jail?"

"I saved a 'get out of jail free' card from the last time we played Monopoly," Ethan/Paul said with a feral grin. "I met up with my wife, a charming woman, I'm sure you'll love her, and we went on a vacation. My little girl was attacked and I've been here in Costa Rica ever since."

"By dinosaurs?"

"That is what they tell me," Ethan said, motioning to Alan Grant. "My daughter simply thought it was a three toed lizard."

"There haven't been lizards with three toes in sixty-five million years," Alan said. "We don't know how it escaped, but it did. It and many others. It could turn into an ecological disaster."

"Oh, it could get much worse than that, Alan, much, much worse," Giles said. Alan Grant glanced between the two British men and felt that, yes, it could get much worse.

* * *

"So this will take me to Costa Rica," said the blond woman, hoping to just fly into the country following the energy of the Key southward. "It's pretty small."

"Yes, your wondrousness of all things great and terrible," fawned her minion demon. "We brought you something."

A trio of other minion demons dragged over a flight attendant. He had been bound and gagged. Glory grinned as she sunk her fingers into his mind, adding his spiritual energy to her constantly depleting store. She pulled them out just as quickly and the man, now babbling incoherently in Spanish through the gag, fell to the ground in a heap.

"Now," she said, momentarily satisfied. "Find my Key."

* * *

_Author's Justification: Ethan and Paul were played by the same person, so I just couldn't resist._


	10. Chapter 10

**Family**

* * *

The next day, Buffy was awoken promptly at seven o'clock. She then threw the pillow at her sister and tried to go back to sleep. Dawn woke her up again, this time using a coat rack from the living room. Buffy broke the coat rack with one sleepy kick, but rolled out of bed, finally waking her up. Groggily, Buffy pulled herself to her feet and looked at the broken coat rack.

"We don't have the money to pay for that," Buffy said.

"We're meeting our cousins and our aunt today," Dawn said. "They're the only family we have left that matters and I don't want to mess it up. Go put on something nice."

"Shower," mumbled the sleep-addled slayer.

"No, we're having breakfast with them at nine and you broke the alarm, refused to wake when I tried and only got up when you thought you were getting hit. Go get presentable, it's after eight," Dawn said, her hands on her hips in a show of temporary dominance. The effect was ended as Buffy hit her sister with the pillow from before. Then Buffy staggered over to the washroom to clean up.

A few oh-so-short minutes later (or so they seemed to Buffy), Dawn pulled the door open and dragged the showering Buffy, still not dried off. The Slayer escaped and ran back into the wash room grabbing a comb and her underwear. Dawn impatiently tapped her foot as Buffy combed her hair back straight and took care of her morning routine. For Dawn it was too slow, so the younger Summers grabbed a black dress and handed it to her older sister.

"Get dressed," Dawn commanded.

In the end, Buffy ended up looking more like a horror movie victim than her usual self. Her hair was a mess, her dress wasn't exactly fitted right and her eyes, still bearing the signs of lack of sleep made her look more dead than alive. Willow and Tara saw Buffy being dragged out of the room and had to suppress their laughter.

Luckily for Buffy, the restaurant was a couple blocks away, so she had plenty of time to comb and clean as much as one can when trudging from place to place in a city. By the time they arrived at the Café Milagro, it was nearly nine and Buffy considered herself to be nearly presentable.

A charming couple and their children ran Café Milagro. The mother was born and raised in France and moved to Costa Rica in her early twenties after falling in love with a young Costa Rican man who she later married. They opened this shop years ago and had started with local fare, but had gradually changed towards le petit déjeuner of her birth country. They focused on fresh made butter croissants, hard crusted baguettes, local hand made jams, French style chocolate as a morning drink, and fresh Costa Rican fruit. The end result was a perfect blend of French baking with Costa Rican ingredients. With this new move, they had changed the name to Café Milagro after their first daughter. This daughter, now ten, helped out around the shop before heading to school during the day. Afterwards she would return and help with the afternoon rush.

Sonya Hammond, formerly Murphy, but she had changed her name back after the divorce from her children's father, had discovered this café years ago when she would visit her father, the late John Hammond, on his few days off. She was quite a bit younger than her sister, Joyce, being the daughter of John Hammond's second wife, after Joyce's mother died in Kenya. The thirteen-year difference was starkly clear to most people who knew them, although Joyce had worn the years better than her sister. Sonya Hammond had used her full access to the Hammond fortune to…edit...herself, so to speak, with the finest plastic surgeons in the United States, Europe and Central America. It was one of the many reasons the marriage didn't work; Mr. Murphy was a jealous man.

Now, unlike many half-siblings, there was no bad blood between them, Joyce and Sonya had been very close, but the age difference between them had a drastic effect on the type of relationship they had. Joyce was more like an aunt than a sister. When Sonya was entering grade school, Joyce was entering college; when Sonya was entering high school, Joyce was getting married. Sonya would see Joyce during the summers and on school breaks or at special long weekends that John Hammond needed a family for public persona. But that was when the fights started. Sonya remembered those fight between her father and her sister well.

The first fights were about Joyce's choice of major. John Hammond believed anything but a business degree was a waste of time. The fact that Joyce was choosing Art History of all things drove the old man up the wall. Sonya could remember the voices echoing down the halls of the Hammond mansion, well, whichever one they were living in that month. Joyce would always say that she was getting a well-rounded education. She would cite the statistics of people who actually worked in their fields after college and it was always staggeringly low. Her father would always claim that they got useless degrees, so of course they didn't work in those fields. They would get so bad, but then they would just stop and those walls would suddenly be silent. It was like living in a tomb. And then, of course Joyce would do something like "accidentally" break a vase that her father had just bought and the fight would start up all over again.

That round of fights ended when Joyce graduated. The new round started when Joyce met Hank. Sonya was just the right age to be thinking about boys and Hank was quite a man when he was young. He also had an incredible capacity for assholery. Joyce never brought Hank over after that first visit, but would sometimes visit Sonya at times when Sonya wasn't at her parents' mansions. Sony had been the only family member invited to the wedding. After that, Joyce and Sonya would write, but the times between letters grew and grew until years slipped between them. Sonya had not even known Joyce had moved to Sunnydale after the divorce.

But now Joyce was dead.

That changed everything. Sonya's mother, after not getting her "fair share" in the divorce from John Hammond (she left with millions), was prompted written out of the will. Everything was going to Sonya and Joyce…Joyce was getting half of everything. In her heart, Sonya was overjoyed at the fact, although she had to pretend to be bitter for public opinion (it was expected of her, after all). This meant that John Hammond had not thrown out all hope. Sonya had hoped Joyce and their father could have mended fences when they got divorced, but John Hammond wouldn't even speak on it. Sonya wondered if her father had tried to contact Joyce and been refused.

But now John Hammond was dead.

They were both dead.

All that Sonya had of either of them were her children and Joyce's girls. She did not know what to expect. Would they look like Joyce or would they take after their father? Would they be a blend of both? What would they act like? Would they have Joyce's interests? Would they be only out for themselves like Hank? Would they want anything to do with the family business? Would they want anything to do with the family?

Now, Sonya waited for the answers as Tim and Lex devoured their breakfast. Tim and Lex: her two little children. Now that the divorce was finished, she had moved down to Costa Rica to stay with them. Funny how no one was willing to tell her ahead of time that she would not be able to leave because of something her father did. Something that her children knew of but refused to speak of. She wondered constantly what it could be.

She was glad they could continue their education down here. She had managed to hire the best tutors she could to keep their education continuing. Lex had made close friends with several children in the area and was well on her way to becoming fluent in the local Spanish dialect. She taught them baseball and they taught her soccer, or football as they called it here. They were all much faster after having hit a couple of home runs into the neighbor's upstairs windows. Tim was having a good time as well, although Spanish was not coming as easily to him as it did to Lex. He was excelling in his biology and computer science classes. In fact, he was delving into science deeper than she ever remembered him doing before. She guessed that was because scientists in paleontology, paleobotany, ecology and math were tutoring him. How they had met up, Sonya didn't know, and she was not entire sure she wanted to. She knew it had something to do with whatever happened on her father's island.

Sonya was embarrassed to admit that she was having a much harder time learning Spanish than either of her children. She never did have a gift for languages. Her embarrassing years of Latin and French were horrors she refused to recount even on penalty of death. Instead of learning the local language she had been absorbed into the intellectual scene, which was usually held in English since that was the lingua franca for the people who took part. She had to admit that most of it flew over her head, but it seemed that there was an important exchange of information about mathematics and how it relates to evolution and paleontology. She had ordered a few books so she could read up about it. She was about half way through Origin of Species and she had started asking questions about it. This had prompted several of the others in the group to start reading it for themselves. Come to find out, most of them had never read it in the first place. When she didn't understand some concepts, she had been loaded with books. Only a few, select pieces were written by the same people who suggested them. Alan Grant suggested John Gould as a place to start. She suddenly discovered that the formerly troublesome words like Tyrannosaurus Rex and Apatosaurus or even pachycephalosaurus were rolling off her tongue when before she would even know what they meant. She was discussing issues of species fitness and chaos theory, things she had never even heard about six months before. She found that she liked it.

But that was getting way off the topic of the morning. Sony Hammond, born of a British father and an American mother, mother herself of Tim and Lex Murphy, was waiting for her sister's only children.

When Dawn finally succeeded in dragging Buffy to Café Milagro, the elder Summers sister was finally fully awake and capable of self locomotion. They stepped into the packed café and suddenly realized they neither knew what their aunt looked like, nor did they have any way to contact her. They glanced around the place and noticed only a few tables were left. Soon though, a pretty woman walked up to them and spoke in accented Spanish.

Buffy, not knowing any Spanish, answered in French as it was as close as she was going to get. The woman smiled brilliantly and switched to the Parisian French of her birth. After a while Buffy turned to Dawn. "She says Madame Murphy is in the back and waiting for us. I think she means our aunt, although I think her name was Hammond."

"It is," Dawn said. "I heard she changed it after her divorce was finalized. Since when do you speak French?"

"Hey, Halloween had to give me more than the ability to sew an antimacassar in five minutes flat and knowing which fork is the salad fork," Buffy said with a shrug. "Xander wasn't the only one who kept something."

"An anti-what?" Dawn said. "I don't even know how to say that."

"It's one of those doily thingies on the backs of chairs," Buffy said as they made their way to the back of the café. "It's to keep hair oil from staining chairs."

"Oh, gross," gacked Dawn.

One of the few tables in the back was one with a pretty blond woman and two children. The woman smiled and stood up. Buffy's first thought was that she looked like Joyce and Susan Sarandon's love child, if that was even possible.

"I'm guessing you are Joyce's girls, right? Hi, I'm Sonya and these are Tim and Lex," She said, motioning to the two children beside her. Buffy shook Sonya's hand hesitantly.

"Uh, hi, I'm Buffy and this is Dawn," Buffy said. Not sure what else to say, she sat down. Dawn took the seat next to Buffy and Lex. "So, uh, you're Mom's sister?"

"Well, half-sister. Your mother is thirteen years older than me…er, was I guess," Sonya said. "I'm still not used to the fact that she's dead."

"Neither are we," Dawn said, falling back into her same level of depression she had been in before the trip. There was a moment of silence, but Buffy tried to fill it with false cheer.

"But at least we get to meet, that's good I suppose," she said. The Slayer gripped the table just a little too hard and pulled her hand away when she realized she was bending the metal of the table. Buffy glanced over and noticed that Lex was staring at the finger marks she put in the aluminum table. Nervously, Buffy tucked her hands behind her. The little girl was still staring at her. …Creepy…

"Yes, yes it is," Sonya said. "I saw you once when you were little, but I doubt you remember. You were only about two."

"Uh no, I don't remember," Buffy said. There was another long period of silence as they all looked at each other.

"…So…Dawn, how old are you?" Sonya asked.

"I'm 14 this year," the brunette said nervously. "I'm going to be a freshman in high school next year."

"That's great," Sonya said. She motioned to the boy. "Tim is twelve and Lex is eight."

"Hi," Tim said nervously.

"…sooooo…..What do you do for fun?" Buffy asked, not sure what to say.

"I play baseball and football, I mean, soccer," Lex said.

"Oh, that's cool. I used to be a cheerleader," Buffy said, wincing at the lameness of the statement. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Buffy's into martial arts," Dawn said. Buffy shot her an alarmed look. "She's a real natural talent. And she goes to college at UC Sunnydale. I don't play any sports, but I do help out at our friends' shop."

"Oh? Did Joyce let you work?"

"No, it's more like I was there so often that I kept doing stuff," Dawn said.

"What kind of shop? Clothing?" Sonya asked. Buffy and Dawn shared a look. At first it was alarm then it changed to amusement.

"Actually it's a magic shop, although there are a few pieces of clothing," Dawn said. "Some friends of us run it. Giles came down with us. He's kind of like a surrogate father."

"Oh, magic," Sonya said, not sure what they meant by that, but sure that she was being tested. "So, like pulling rabbits out of hats? That sort of thing?"

Buffy shook her head. "Nope, eye of newt, wing of bat, that kind of magic shop."

"I didn't know Joyce was into that sort of crowd," the blond woman said a little confused. "So…are you um...witches?"

"No, but our friends are," Dawn said. "They came down with us, too."

"So, Buffy, what are you studying in school?" Sonya asked, changing the subject. Dawn wisely hid her smile by pretending to wipe her mouth.

"I well, I started thinking that I might go into psychology, the TA was nice, but the professor was a real killer. After dating said TA, I realized it was more the cute TA and less the subject I liked," Buffy rambled. "After breaking up with TA, now thinking that psychology might be okay again with a better professor."

"It sounds like you've been keeping up with the tradition of the Hammond family then, pick the worst possible person," Sonya said. She winced at the scowl that flashed briefly on Tim's face. Lex didn't seem to have caught the reference. Sonya turned back to her nieces. "Just be glad you didn't marry him. Hopefully your generation of the Hammond legacy can find the right person."

"Buffy's been messing up spectacularly on that front," Dawn said, ripping apart a croissant. At Buffy's scandalized outburst, Dawn just gave her a look. "Come on! Pike was named after a fish, Angel was anything but, and Riley was boring at the best of times and an addict at the worst. You could do a lot better."

"Pike wasn't bad," Buffy protested. Dawn made a fish face and waved her hands on her neck like little fins. Buffy laughed and gave her a little push. Dawn almost fell out of the chair. Lex started to giggle and Tim made the first noise since the Summers girls arrived. It was almost a laugh. Sonya let herself laugh for the first time since she had found out her sister was dead.

"So, a first love, a bad boy, and a wannabe bad boy," Sonya asked. "Speaking of poor spouse choices, how is Hank?" Dawn and Buffy gave her identical shrugs.

"Last we heard he was in Spain with his secretary," Buffy said. "He didn't even show up for Mom's funeral." Sonya snorted.

"Sounds like him," she commented derisively. "Hank never did anything that wasn't going to help him get what he wanted. Visiting you or going to a funeral wouldn't be on his itinerary unless it would help his career. He's always been that way. I'm surprised he put the energy into raising you both that he did."

"After the divorce, he didn't have any need for us anymore," Buffy said with a shrug. She took a sip of the breakfast chocolate and her eyes went wide. "This is GOOD."

"That's why I come here," Sonya said with a smile. Dawn just had to stare. Even though her face was a little too tight, she had that kind of plastic smile you saw on supermodels, there were times when Sonya would turn the right way and Dawn could see her mom in the woman. It wasn't every time, but here and there Joyce Summers seemed to be sitting across from her. It made her heart ache.

Buffy could sense that things were getting a little tense for her sister, so she tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. She turned to Tim and smile.

"So Tim," Buffy said, hoping that she wasn't too obvious about changing the subject. "What are you studying in school these days?"

Tim shrugged, but didn't say anything.

"Timothy," Sonya said in a chiding tone. "You never used to be this quiet." She turned back to her nieces and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, he used to talk about dinosaurs and computers for hours on end. Now he'll go through periods of just saying nothing. I just don't know what happened."

"That's alright," Dawn said with a shrug. She and Buffy noticed both kids flinch at the word "dinosaur" and both suspected they knew why. "So what are you studying?"

Tim just slurped his drink.

"Timothy Murphy! Do not slurp your drink in public!" his mother hissed. "Honestly, you've got plenty to talk about considering all the reading Ellie, Ian and Alan have given you. That doesn't even count those things you and Marty talk about. You must have something to say."

"Ellie? Was that Ellie Sattler?" Dawn asked. Tim nodded. "Oh, we met her last night. A guy from the American Embassy introduced us. She was pretty cool with all the paleontology and what not."

"It's not cool anymore," Tim muttered so quietly no one but Buffy and Lex heard him. Lex gave an almost imperceptible nod of agreement.

"What was that Tim?"

"Nothing Mom," he said quietly. Buffy, sensing that the tone of the conversation had changed, stood up.

"Sonya, it's so nice to meet you, but Dawn and I need to do some paperwork with the Embassy and some guy from InGen," she said warmly. "Why don't we meet back up for dinner?"

"That would be great," Sonya said, pulling Buffy into a hug. "It's so great to meet you both."

"Yeah, same here," Dawn said as she mussed up Lex's hair. The little blond girl grinned at the gesture.

"Where would you like to eat? It will be my treat." The Summers sisters looked at each other and shrugged.

"I don't know anything about this city," Buffy said honestly.

"Tell you what," Sonya said. "I'll pick the place and I'll leave a message with the hotel."

"Great! We'll be looking for it," Dawn said with a smile.

Dawn grinned as they walked out.

"What's got you in such a happy?" her sister asked.

"I like them, and," Dawn said, trailing off.

"spit it out squirt," Buffy said playfully.

"I'm not the youngest any more!" Dawn admitted with a widening grin.

"That's what you're happy about?" Buffy said with an incredulous look.

"Yup!"

"Well that's good. Because I like them too."


	11. Chapter 11

**More of an Idea Man**

* * *

"Spike, I don't think this is going to work," Xander said, looking at his mode of transportation. It was a wooden box seven feet long and two feet high; it had something written in Polish spray-painted on the side in bright red and looked like it had been sawed open once before. Xander thought he could almost fit if he went in a sort of diagonal way, but it would never be comfortable. Having snuck into LAX, they were standing in the cargo hanger outside a cargo plane destined for Nicaragua. "And I don't think that plane is pressurized outside the cabin."

"Bloody hell, Dru and I used to do this all the time," Spike said, dragging a crate of "supplies" he had managed to collect before they left Sunnydale the night before.

"First of all, the big huge issue of me not being dead and wanting to stay that way," Xander said. "And second of all, I'm not going to fit in the box."

"Oh, just bring along a cooler of blood, oh wait, you're not dead yet, are you?" Spike said as he managed to stagger while sitting down. Xander just glared at him.

"Spike, just how drunk are you?"

Spike held up a hand with his thumb and forefinger about a centimeter apart.

Xander raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

Spike increased the distance to a more accurate measure of his current inebriated state.

"That's what I thought," Xander said sarcastically. "Now, how exactly are we going to get to Costa Rica before Glory finds Dawn?"

Spike took a moment to think many deep and difficult thoughts. These ponderous ponderings came to an end when the Master Vampire snapped his fingers as if he had suddenly been so divinely inspired into thinking the very essence of Creation.

"We'll take a ship!"

'This is going to be a long trip,' Xander thought to himself with an audible sigh. He rolled his eyes at the blond vamp before climbing back into the black convertible they had stolen from Angel.

In a darker part of LA, Angel walked into the alley and found it empty. Keeping to the shadows he went back inside the building. Ducking his head into the office he asked: "Cordy, where's my car?"

The brunette shrugged and went back to talking on the phone.

* * *

_Yep, the return of the dastardly duo! I'll add more soon, thanks for reading!_


	12. Chapter 12

**Consequences of Adulthood**

* * *

As the Summers girls made it back to the hotel, Giles was just getting into his room. Luckily this time Ethan had not cast a spell on him, well…not any spell that Giles could notice. He assumed that having Alan around had tempered the chaos mage's usual tendencies or perhaps it was the fact that Ethan's daughter was close by.

The night had been an in depth discussion of the behavior of dinosaurs and the environment involved in creating a world for them. He had a brief understanding of dinosaurs from his experience as a museum curator where he had met Alan Grant years ago. But that understanding was quite brief. He was sort of an "arm chair dinosaur hunter" or some such in his former capacity and had not kept up on the science aspect of things.

Here however, he was confronted by the new knowledge of these monsters. In a world that already had plenty of demons there was no need for a species of super predators or even several species of super predators to be created. And it was not like someone could control them like the Initiative had done to Spike. Or could they? Oh, no, that was a line of thinking that could only lead to badness. OH GOOD GOD! Had he actually thought that? "_Badness_?" Clearly Giles was in dire need of more interaction with people his own age. And sleep.

He was just about to close the elevator as Buffy caught the door letting her and Dawn into the elevator.

"Giles!" Buffy said. She gave him a big hug.

"Buffy, although I can ascertain that you are in a good mood, however, I myself am quite tired," the Watcher said straightening his glasses. Buffy extracted herself from her surrogate father and he was hugged by Dawn instead. Giles sighed. Granted, he had been slightly uncomfortable by their hugging, but he had been touched by the fact they considered him family even if he wasn't blood kin. Considering the troubles Giles had with his own father, this was a considerable thing. "Please tell me no one cast a spell on you two."

"Nope!" Dawn said, still hugging him. "We just met our family. Our aunt Sonya is cool. Lex is spunky, but Tim is kinda boring."

"I wouldn't call him boring, he's just kinda shy," Buffy said. "You smell like beer, whatcha been up to?"

"Dinner with an old friend," Giles said, "and a few pints afterwards."

"A lady old friend or a man old friend," Dawn asked finally letting go.

"Alan Grant, an old friend from when I was a museum curator," he answered. "And then another old acquaintance visited."

"Who was that?" Buffy said.

"Well, at the risk of ruining your good mood," Giles started ominously, "it was Ethan Rayne."

However, upon hearing that name there was a moment of stunned silence, broken only by the lurch of the elevator. Suddenly the two sisters were poking him with their fingers as if to find something wrong with him. And these weren't simple probing fingers of a nurse or doctor, these were full on jabs with Slayer strength behind half of them. After a few brutal moments the two girls were satisfied that Giles was physically at least still Giles. Then the verbal portion of the test began.

"What is your name?"

"You know my name, Buffy."

"Say it," threatened Dawn.

"Rupert Giles,"

"What is Xander not allowed to call you?"

"Oh fine, he isn't allowed to call me G-Man," Giles answered with an annoyed tone.

"What is Dawn's birthday?"

"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that question off the top of my head, as you well know I'm terrible with birthdates," Giles said. "I usually recall them at the last minute because you wrote them on my calendar."

"Correct," said Buffy. As the Slayer thought of another line of questioning, the door opened to reveal Willow and Tara who were just about to head out on the town.

"Giles," Tara said quietly. "There's something wrong with your aura."

"A-HA!" Said the Summers girls in unison.

"I was right, he did cast a spell on you," Buffy said, crossing her arms and nodding in righteous pride.

"Who cast what?" Willow asked, her interest suddenly peaked.

"Giles went out drinking with Ethan again," Dawn blurted out. It was like she was telling on him for stealing from the cookie jar. Willow joined in with the disapproving stares.

"Who's Ethan?" asked Tara.

"I am fully an adult. It is entirely appropriate for me to have a pint or two with a friend," Giles said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "Ethan was invited by Alan. I didn't know he was going to be there. So for all intents and purposes, Ethan joined us rather than I went with him."

"So, Witchy-witches, what's all woogy about his aura," Buffy asked, ignoring her Watcher's protests. Tara looked closer at the aura and shrugged.

"I don't know, it's just…weird," she finished in a small voice. All the girls started going over the evidence. Dawn snapped her fingers as a thought came to her.

"Giles, you can't sleep!"

"What? I very well can, I've been up all night and I will have a rather bad headache if I don't," the Watcher argued, suddenly finding himself trapped in the corner of the elevator, unable to escape. "I find it will be rather easier for me to sleep than normal."

"Uh-uh," Buffy said, shaking her head. "The last time Ethan visited, you needed to sleep for the spell to go into effect. You aren't allowed to sleep until we figure out what he did."

"Buffy, I seriously doubt Ethan would try the same trick twice," Giles said. "As much as I hate to give him credit for anything, he is far too clever for that." The three girls who knew the chaos mage all sighed and nodded in agreement. Giles took that opportunity to slip between them. "Which is, of course, why I am about to sleep."

There was a strange sense of satisfaction as he managed to slip into his suite and close the door before Buffy was able to stop him. He didn't even make it to the bed. He loosened his collar and fell asleep on the couch. His dreams were filled with dancing dinosaurs eating tourists and vampires. It was a pleasant dream.

Although the tyrannosaur singing "Carmen" was a bit odd.  
===============================================================


	13. Chapter 13

**Bureaucracy expanding to meet its expanding needs**

* * *

"Oh, phooey," said Buffy, her plans foiled by Morpheus. "And we don't have time to go look for Ethan either."

"Uh-um. W-we could go look for him," suggested Tara. Willow smiled and took a hold of her girlfriend's hand.

"That could work, Buffy," Dawn said. "I mean, we've got stuff we need to do."

"And we know Ethan pretty well. I'll know what kind of things he likes to do," prompted Willow. Buffy deflated.

"…okay…I wanted to skip out on paperwork, but I'll let you go instead," the Slayer said.

"Come on Tara, let's go hunting chaos mages," Willow said, pulling her girlfriend into the elevator. Tara grinned and waved to the Summers sisters as the elevator doors shut.

"I'll go get our paperwork," said Dawn. She rushed into the room and soon came back with a large bag of papers that contained immense proof of Joyce's identity and the identity of her two daughters. Donald Gennaro had told them it would be necessary in order to gain their inheritance. "I think we need Slayer Strength for this one."

Buffy sighed and took the heavy bag from her sister. It wasn't that bad for her, but she sighed at the indignity of it all. Crap, she was feeling like a high schooler again.

* * *

This time when they got to the government building, Buffy was not carrying weapons, but they still searched her overly thoroughly and only found five knives and Mr. Pointy. The guard had sighed, taken the knives, returned the stake to her and let her continue on. A guard offered to help Buffy with her bag. She let him carry it, not even considering that he might find it odd that she was hefting it just slung over one shoulder.

Eventually the Summers girls were brought to a couple of rooms. Buffy was informed that she would be asked a series of questions and Dawn would too. After some wrangling, they had convinced the officials that Dawn, as she was still underage, could have Buffy in the room with her. Buffy chose to go first.

Her questioner was a middle aged Hispanic man who, though he had an accent, was still perfectly clear when he spoke English. He clicked a mechanical pen and pulled out a sheet of paper that had some sort of heading written in Spanish. Buffy, knowing about as much Spanish as she did Chaos Theory, had no idea what it said. It occurred to her that a translator might be in order.

"So, please state your name for the record," the man said.

"Buffy Summers," she replied.

"And what is your connection to John Hammond?" he asked next.

"He's supposed to be my grandfather, but if he isn't do I still have to be here?" Buffy countered.

"Yes."

"Crap." He gave her a strange look and then jotted something down on the paper.

"So what is your connection to the InGen Corporation?"

"None yet except grampy owned it or part of it, or founded it or something. I don't really know."

"You don't know?"

"Nope." Buffy answered cheerfully. "Can Dawn and I go now? Well, I know we _can_, but I suppose I should say _may_ we go?"

"No." He answered quickly without looking up from the paper. "Are you aware of the events on Isla Nublar?"

"Only second hand. Ellie told me last night," Buffy said. He looked rather upset at that. "Was she not supposed to?"

"Why are you here?"

"Well, rumor has it that mom was supposed to inherit something from John Hammond and since she recently died, I'm here to get it for me and Dawnie; I don't know really what it is, but if it's money or things that can be sold for money it's either this or the Doublemeat Palace," Buffy said. She glanced at the doughnuts on the table. "Can I have one?"

"Yes," the man said, still not looking up from the paper as he wrote.

"I didn't even know you had doughnuts in Costa Rica because I thought that it was pretty much US stuff, but I guess that's not all true since you have them down here which is kinda strange considering they're something that isn't all too common even in the states to have homemade doughnuts that aren't made in a factory somewhere, which I suppose means that they aren't really homemade because-"

"Are you aware of any other events involving the aberrant forms that have been seen roaming the hills?" The investigator asked, ignoring the massive run-on sentence Buffy had just spewed out. Even her best Valley Girl was failing to work on this guy.

"Abby-who?"

"Aberrant forms."

"Oh, are you talking about dinosaurs?"

"Yes."

"Then why don't you call them that? It's about as stupid as a certain government agency that I'm not supposed to talk about, I'll shut up now," Buffy said, pantomiming buttoning her mouth.

"Thank you." The man glanced through his notes again and went to the door. "Dawn Summers, please."

Dawn walked in and sat down next to Buffy. The man asked her the same questions and Dawn gave very similar answers in her own style. The man gave no indication of whether he was satisfied or not. He simply stood up and opened the door. "You may go."

Dawn looked at Buffy clearly confused. Buffy shrugged and walked out.


End file.
